Protector of the Deep
by ScholarX
Summary: Vince's college life has him bored out of his mind. He's tired of the same old and wishes he could go someplace new and interesting! Fate seems to listen, and he find himself deep beneath the ocean waves in a world ruled by mermaids. Met by suspicion from King Triton, Vince must prove himself if he wants to live in the kingdom of Atlantica as dark forces grow stronger under the sea


**January 1, 2019**

 **A/N: OC and AU the Little Mermaid Universe. Set between Ariel's Beginning and the first film.** **This is OC story with Vince Anderson as the main character. I drew inspiration from the Little Mermaid tv and comic series and the new Aquaman movie. I hope it's to your liking!**

 **Please follow, favorite, and review! Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Present Day - Rosewell University**

"Three energy systems are as followed. They are the ATP, Glycolysis, and aerobic systems. Each individual..."

Vince Anderson struggled to suppress a yawn. He was only fifteen minutes into his 9 AM Exercise Physiology class, and he was already feeling the fatigue and boredom clawing at him. The thoughts of his next two college classes caused him to click his tongue in annoyance.

Dr. Baldwin turned his attention away from the board. "Anderson, how long does the gylcoysis system run before depletion?" Vince's lack of attention and bored look had not gone unnoticed.

The twenty-one year old ran a hand through his short black hair before straightening up in his seat. "Anywhere from ten seconds to two minutes after the onset of exercise." Dr. Baldwin nodded his head and turned to the smart board, apparently satisfied with his answer.

To Vince, it hadn't been a hard question. On the contrary, for him, the whole class was rather easy. He'd been in Rosewell University for almost three years now, and had studied hard for the first two years. Shortly into his three year, however, his grades and studying habits had started to decline. In Vince's mind the reason was clear; a lack of motivation on his part. The reasoning? Boredom.

At first, college had seemed like some kind of paradise for Vince. He'd moved two states away from the watchful eyes of his parents and began attending a mid-size university in a otherwise small city.

It was to be a fresh start to a normal student life. He went to class, studied, made a lot of close friends, and even checked out the off campus parties. Fast forward to his junior year, and things had slowed down to a crawl. The college parties had lost their appeal. For him, the everyday routine of a rigid schedule and the same old scenery had finally begun to take a toll. He wasn't depressed, but his slump continued to nag at him for the whole of his third year. Some of his friends had dropped out or graduated, reducing the size of his circle of friends by a bit. He knew his roommate and current friends had noticed his change in behavior. A few had even started worrying that he was hiding bigger problems.

Following the end of his last class, Vince stuffed his books away into his bag and hurried off back to the dorms. At the door, he fumbled with his keys before unlocking and walking into the warm lobby. It was early spring, but the chill of winter had yet to be replaced by the new season. He walked out of the lobby, down the hallway til he arrived at the door to the study room. He glanced through the small window to see a single person inside, before turning the knob.

"Hey Susan."

A young Asian girl, around Vince's age, looked up from the paper she was typing. "Hi Vince," she greeted. "You just get out of class?"

"Yep." He slipped his bag off his shoulder and rested it on the floor. A moment later he pulled out a chair and sat across from Susan, who raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"How'd you do on the test?"

"Which one?" he yawned. He propped his elbow on the table, resting his chin in his palm. Susan had been one of Vince's friends since his first year at the university. Truth be told, he'd once had small crush on the pretty dark haired girl, but had gotten over it once his friend Nathan and her started dating. He was friends with both of them and would have hated to see the two love birds separate. Nowadays, Vince was fine with the current relationship they'd developed. One more akin to a older sibling lecturing the younger one.

"The one you said you were pulling the all nighter for last week."

"Oh, pharmacology. You know..." He tilled his free hand side to side. "So so."

"What's that suppose to mean?" She rubbed the bridge of her nose and took a deep exasperated breath. "You made at least a B?"

"C."

"..."

"..."

"Vince..."

"Uh huh?"

Susan closed her laptop and looked straight at the boy with the "come on, really" look. "What about your GPA? You used to be a straight A student. If you keep this up, you're grades are going to start to plummet."

Straightening himself up he replied, "It's only the third one I've made this year. It's not something I need to worry about yet. My scholarship is still safe and besides, you know what they say." A grin tugged at his lips. "C's get degrees." The only reply was a silent face palm from across the table.

Studying had, at one time, been something Vince enjoyed doing. Reading had been a favorite hobby of his since he was child and studying become an extension of that. But you could only read so much about the human body and functions before boredom reared it's ugly head. He'd done it for three years. Graduation was more than a year off and his motivation and interest in a degree plummeted. Studying felt like a chore that made his brain feel numb and tired with class lectures coming in a close second. Learn and relearn the same topic over and over again.

Hearing the study room door open, Vince turned to see Nathan give a small wave before stepping inside. "What's up guys?" He went a stood beside his girlfriend, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. "Anything interesting going on?"

"Nothing more than usual. Once again, Vince has been slacking in his grades."

With a deadpan expression, Nathan turned to his black-haired friend. "Is that really news though?"

He shrugged in reply. "Nope. I told Susan she doesn't need to worry, but clearly that's not going to stop her from doing it. At least I know you care about my well being; grade wise anyway." As if to wrap up the conversation, Vince picked his bag off the floor and stood up. "If it makes you feel better, I'll go do some homework right now. There's a paper for World Lit that needs to be turned in on Thursday."

"Want some company? We both took it last year, so we can help," Susan offered.

Vince was halfway out the door before he looked over his shoulder. "Thanks, but you know I get more work done when I'm alone. If you guys were there, I'd be busy playing on my phone or making dumb jokes. I would never get any progress done."

"Which book is your paper on at least?" inquired Nathan.

"A book from an old Danish author. The weird coincidence is that we had the same last name. Hans Christian Anderson. He wrote as book called _The Little Mermaid._ "

* * *

As the late hours of the night went by, the stream of students reading and working in the library steadily began to drop. Finals were still weeks away, so most students were more concerned with enjoying the slow pace then studying. The same could not be said for Vince.

"Less depressing than the end of _Romeo and Juliet_ , but sea foam! Seriously!"

He reread the last few pages of the worn out book before sighing and closing the cover. There had been only one copy of _The Little Mermaid_ available. What he found was a dust covered book that looked like it had gone through a century of neglect. He'd skimmed read through the worn book along with using online notes to help form the bases of what he should write about.

A yawn escaped his lips as he spun the pencil in his hand. It had not yet touched the blank paper resting in front of him. "What a drag. I really don't want to have to write a paper on this stupid book." Leaning back in his chair, his eyes traced in the old building ceiling, following the patterns of the wood as it went. Within minutes, his tired eyelids slowly began to close.

 _'I need a vacation. Just a little time to recharge my batteries and find my motivation to make it through this semester. I could email my professors and tell them I'm sick. Take a week off and go on a road trip down south. Yeah. That doesn't sound to bad at all. A change of scenery is never a bad thing...'_

At that moment, Vince's mind slowly wondered off to sleep only to snap back at the last second. The odd sensation, feeling like you're falling right before waking up. However, when the young man's eyes opened up, he wasn't greeted with the sight of the library ceiling. Only the sight of sunlight shining through clear water and the touch of coldness as he fell deeper and deeper into the abyss...

* * *

 **Atlantica**

"I hate how stubborn Daddy is all the time. Why can't he understand?"

The young red-haired merprincess swam back and forth in circles around the bedroom. She was clearly in a bad mood at the moment.

"You shouldn't be surprised at all," her oldest sister Attina replied. Ariel had rushed back to their room after another argument with her father. Her sisters went about their daily routine despite the drama that had unfolded minutes earlier. It wasn't a uncommon occurrence when it came to the youngest princess. "If anything, you're the stubborn one. He's told you countless times not to go to the surface, but you insist on doing just that."

"Come on, Attina! It's such a stupid rule! It's not like I'm going to be seen by humans. I'm careful you know."

"If you were so careful, the guards wouldn't have seen you bobbing around up there," Andrina added lazily. The second youngest princess was currently watching the exchange between the two from her bed.

"How was I suppose to know they were patrolling?!" Ariel shot back.

"Okay okay stop girls, don't fight over something so stupid," the second oldest Alana intervened. "We've all had this discussion a thousand times already, so let's not get a each others throats." She shot a sharp glare at the blonde mermaid. "Right, Andrina?"

The only response she got was a chuckle while Ariel turned her attention back to Attina. "All I'm saying is rules that don't make sense shouldn't exist." Her voice and expression lightened as she continued. "The surface is such a beautiful place. I don't see why he doesn't want us going up there when there's so much to explore and see."

Attina could only shake her head when Ariel got this way. "You know the reason. What if a human saw you? What if a human caught? You want to get caught on the end of a fish-eaters hook? Tangled in a awful looking net and dragged on board one of those barbarian's ships?"

It was considered common knowledge among the merfolk that the surface dwellers were a savage barbarian race. They were a race that were to be feared and avoided at all cost. There was a reason collecting human items and exploring sunken wrecks was forbidden. The less contact with the human world the better.

Ariel swam up to her sister, her emotions boiling back to the surface again. "They're not barbarians, Attina!"

"How do you know," Attina raised a eyebrow, clear skepticism in her voice. "Have you met one before?"

For once, Ariel was lost for words. She slunk back, a hint of uncertainty surfacing in her face. "W-well no...I haven't talk to one before." It was truth. She'd only seen them from afar on their ships or on the beach. Despite her curiosity, even she didn't have the courage to go and try to talk to a human. The tales from childhood had worked in instilling some fear in her and the fact that she didn't know how they'd react to seeing a mermaid. According to some, humans thought mermaids were myths. If a human saw a mermaid, what would they do? Would they talk to her or would they, like her father said, try to snare her. Questions like that weighted on her mind. Questions like that also left hope in her.

"But..." All the sisters stopped what they were doing and leaned in as Ariel whispered. Resolve swelled up inside her and she curled her fists. "They can't all be bad, can they? How can a world that makes such wonderful things be bad?"

"You're talking about the human stuff you found while exploring shipwrecks," Arista asked. Ariel nodded.

While they didn't know about her grotto, all of her sisters knew one of Ariel's hobbies was swimming around sunken ships. Places her father would've lost it if he found out.

Attina opened her mouth to retort, but stopped when there a knock on the door. Moments later, a pair of guards entered. Both had a look of uncertainty in their expressions. "Pardon the intrusion princesses, but his Majesty sent us to make sure you were all here and safe."

"Safe? Why wouldn't we be?" Aquata asked.

Both guards stole a worried glance at each other. "There a major disturbance in the middle of the middle of Atlantica less than a hour ago. A body floated down from the surface right into the city square."

All of the sisters were taken back in shock. The first to respond was Alana in nervous voice. "A body from the surface? You mean...a dead human's body?"

The guards nodded. "Yes your highness. Except well...the human...isn't dead."

* * *

 **Several Minutes Earlier**

There had been few moment's in Vince's life he'd been left speechless. Of those handful of experiences, not one held a candle to what was happening right now. He was shocked, confused, wordless, and growing scared by the second. The dozen swords pointed at him from all around only added to this.

 _'This can't be real. THIS CAN NOT BE REAL!'_ While his mouth failed to form words, his mind was racing a mile a minute. Not only was has he underwater, but he was _breathing_ underwater! While that fact alone should've been shocking enough, the ones with hostile swords and glares directed at him had him slacked jawed. _'Merpeople! Freaking merpeople!'_

It was true. While the angry and confused looking men around him were human from the waist up, complete with metal helmets and breastplates, from the waist done there was absence of legs. Instead, where their legs should've been, different colored fish tails made up their lower half. A crowd had gathered behind the soldier looking mermen. Vince made out the faces of men, women, and children of various ages. Most had looks of confusion and fear that probably matched Vince's. Every single one of them had tails. All were merfolk.

 _'This is a dream, it has to be a dream.'_ That denial was quickly proven false when the merman with a crest on his helmet pointed his sword sword inches from boy's chest. Vince gulped.

"In the name of his highness, King Triton, you are under arrest _human_!"

What came out of Vince's mouth next was the most intelligent thing he could think of.

"Ehhh?!"

 **To Be Continued**

* * *

 **A/N: Happy New Years Everyone!**

 **After a long absence from Fanfiction, I'm final writing again. I hope my writing skill comes back with time. Part of my New Years resolution is to write more and update my two new stories. I've been running this story idea in my head for the past two weeks felt even more inspired to write this after seeing _Aquaman._ Now sure when I'll update, but I've decided on dividing my time between _Protector of the Deep and_ my Little Mermaid fanfic _Daughters of Triton_.** **I'm going to aim for at least 1000 words a day. Not a hard goal. Future chapters will be much longer.**

 **I appreciate all support you guys give me. It's my bread and butter. So please REVIEW, FAVORITE, and FOLLOW**

 **See you guys and gals next chapter. Later.**


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